Cupel-machine.



UNITED STATESl PATENT OFFICE.'

ALBERT C. CALKINS, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO FREDERICK W.BRAUN, OF SAME PLACE.

CUPEL-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 637,081, dated November14, 1899.

Application filed July 13,1899. Serial No. 723,679. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern/.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT C. CALKINs, of Los Angeles, in the county1 ofLos Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Capel-Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

In assaying by cupellation the alloy of precious metal is placed in ashallow vessel made of bone-ash and is heated in a current of air whichoxidizes the lead and other impurities and allows them to be absorbedbythe vessel of bone-ash, While the gold or silver remains behind asrefined metal.

My invention is in the nature of a simple and practical little machinewhereby I am enabled to rapidly compress the bone-ash into the form ofcupels or shallow vessels in a convenient and economical manner; and itconsists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the machine,which I will now proceed t describe with reference to the draw,- ings,in which- Figure l is a perspective view of the entire machine. Fig. 2isa detail vertical section through the plunger and compression-chamber;Fig. 3 is a plan view, and Fig. 4 adetail, of the false bottom.

A is a metal disk with four circular holes a through it, forming thecompression-cham ber, in which the cupels a: are successively formed.The disk A has another. rotary ad'A justable disk B placed beneath it,in close contact therewith and forming a false bottom. The disk B has(see Fig. 4) a single circular hole a'through it of larger size than theholes a in the disk A above. Both the disks A and B are arranged to turnfreely on a vertical standard D, rising from a base C, and are held at asuitable height on the standard by jamnuts d d. In the lower edgeof diskA there are formed at distances equal tothe spaces between the cellsafour notches a2, into which there catches the end of a springpawl h.This disk B is also provided with a handle h' for turning it. Fixed onthe base C in upright position beside the standard D there is anotherstandard F, having a lug or shoulder f projecting beneath the edge ofthe lower disk B. y

Bolted to the upper ends of the standards D and F there is a metal frameE, held rmly onto the tops of said standards by nuts d and f at top andbottom of said frame. This frame is bored vertically to form a circularchamber in it corresponding to the cells a of the disk A, and in thischamber there reciprocates a circular plunger J, having a rounded lowerend and whose 4top is loosely pivoted to a downward projection from thehead of a long hand-lever I. This lever has two ystopshoulders i and i2and is fulcrumed ate'3 upon a cross-bolt passing through slots l in theupper vends of the two links L, which in turn at their lower ends areloosely jointed by trunnions or otherwise to the opposite sides of frameE. Connecting with the fulcrum-bolt i3 there is a short horizontal barH, having a bearing h for the lever-stops i i2 to strike against. Thisbar H at its outer end is jointed to a vertical link G, that in .turn atits lower end is jointed to the end of frame E.

K is ahopper for pulverized bone-ash from which the cupels are made.This hopper is mounted upon a support K', rising from the base C, andthe bottom of said hopper is open and rests closely upon the uppersurface of the upper disk A. Awheel lo, with a rubber rim, is journaledin the bottom ofthe hopper andv is rotated by contact with the travelingdisk, so as to stir or agitate the bone-ash and insure a positive feeddown into the cells of the subjacent disk as they pass under the same.

The operation of my machine is as follows: The Ycells o. are filledautomatically, as just described, and their contents are retained bythe' imperforate portion of the subjacent disk B. When a-cell is filledand brought by a handle h under the chamber in frame E and inregistration with its plunger J, the handle I is up in the dottedposition No. l and is brought down to the full-line position shown inFig. l, which compresses the bone-ash into a cupel Fig. 2. The handle bis then turned to the right from a central position to the positionshown in full lines inFig. 1, which brings the opening in the disk Bimmediately under the cupel o0, and the lever I is then carried downfarther to the dotted position No. 3 and the cupel is discharged throughboth the disks A and Band drops upon the base C. The handle Iis thenraised to its highest position,No. l, which withdraws the plunger fromboth disks A and B, and the handle h' is then turned to the left fromthe full-line position, Fig. 1, through a quarter-revolution, and thisthrough the springpawl b turns disk A and brings a freshlylled cell ctbeneath the plunger forarepetition of the operation.

In the compressing operation the strain of the lever I near the edge ofthe disks A and B is borne on the shoulder f, so as to relieve thevertical axis of said disks.

To make larger or smallercupels, different disks A are provided, whichhave such varying thickness or size of holes as may be desired. Theplunger is also made of diierent diameters to correspond, and the holein the plunger-frame is bushed to correspond.

With regard to the action of the lever I this is both peculiar andimportant. Vhen Vthe lever I is brought down, the leverage constantlyincreases to compress the cupel until the joint y passes directly underthe bolt 223, which up to this time has been the fulcrum;

.but when this point has been reached the lever I changes its character,so that its former fulcrum becomes a movable part and a new fulcrumfarther away from the plungercomes into play, for the stop-luge'2 thenbears against thebolt It, which becomes the fulerum and the bolt i3moves down in the slot Z. The result is that the cupel is compressedwith a powerful strain during the middle of the stroke of lever I and bythe last part of the descent of the lever is quickly pushed through thebottom of the machine by a more rapid movement.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A compressing-machine having a plunger and a lever jointed to theplunger and having two separate fulcra-bearings, one of which is locatedin a slotted bearing near the plunger and comes into action during thefirst part of the stroke to give a powerful compresn sion, and the otherof which is located more remote from the plunger and comes intoactionduring the last'part of the same stroke of the lever to make a dischargeof Jthe object compressed by a continuation of the same stroke of thelever substantially as described.

2. A compressing-machine, consisting of a rotating disk with cells, anindependentlyrotating false bottom having a hole through it andconnected with the disk above by a pawl, and a plunger, andplunger-guide substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. A compressing-machine, consisting of a rotating disk with cells, anindependentlyrotating false bottom with a hole through it, means forlocking the two together, and also for turning them, a reciprocatingplunger, and a shoulder resting beneath and in contact with the disksbelow the point where the compressing strain is applied substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination with a base having two upright standards, one havinga pair of rotating disks with cells as described, and the other ashoulder-rest for the edge of the disks, a frame rigidly connected tothe tops of said standards and having a guide-chamber for a plunger, anda reciprocating plunger working therein substantially as and for thepurpose described.

5. A compressing-machine, comprising a base with two standards D and F,the two rotating disks A and B connected together by a pawl, the frame Econnected to the tops of the two standards and having a chamber for theplunger, the links L, bar H, and link G jointed as described, and thelever I with stops t2 and having a plunger loosely connected thereto asdescribed.

ALBERT C. CALKINS.

Witnesses:

SIDNEY J. PARSONS, JOHN CABoRN CRIBB.

